Vietnam War Photos From Ed Kalwara
Posted on Dec 11, 2019 (last modified Nov 15, 2020)
A collection of photographs from Ed Kalwara (Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines) taken during his tour of duty in the Vietnam War.
This was training in Okinawa. Preparing for boarding the USS Okinawa to return to Vietnam for operations off the carrier. This is an H-34 and carried 5 combat troops. Very loud!
Taken in the parking lot of the Camp Pendleton brig. We all worked at the brig. First half of 1968. Don't remember any names.
My four-man machine gun fire team, in country on an operation. No notes taken. I'm third and don't remember the names of the three others. The lead carries an M-60 machine gun.
1967 in country somewhere on patrol near a village. I took this picture because of the little 7/8 year old smoking.
My notes say "I'm eating a sandwich. In the Philippines waiting to go back on ship." We were there for a week of training. April 67?
No notes, but I remember it well. Kids in village. I gave her a bar of soap; she needed it.
My notes say "Here is Joe, Scott and I putting up a hut." We are on an operation digging in for night. Joe Pierce to my left, survivor of 2O combat operations with 1/3. Rotated home an opted to return and then was killed. The 3 of us were in a 4 man machine gun fire team. Baffling why Joe retuned!
Sheltering in for the night. Jack Milligan is the one on the left. I have spoken to him recently. Joe Pierce, on the right, was KIA.
In country somewhere in the rear. Corporal Muller at left, Dale Walsted at right.
My photo notes just say "Mike, Joe and Jack." Taken on the USS Okinawa off the coast of Vietnam after returning from an operation. My three closest comrades. They saved my life more than once. Mike Witt on the left; I speak to him regularly. Jack Milligan on the right. Joe Pierce in the middle; KIA. Wonder where Mike got that silly hat?
Mike (Witt) and my ex-squad leader. Somewhere in country, we have stopped for a break. Squad is 13 Marines.
Here we are staging somewhere in country between operations or waiting for choppers. Marty kneeling. I'm right standing, Mike Witt to my right, Jack Milligan to Mike's right. Don't remember the names of the others.
This is one of the most significant photos I took. My notes say "This is Mike (Witt) waiting for the chopper to land during the start of an operation." I have talked to Mike about this photo this week, in fact. That face says, I wonder who is not returning from this operation?
My notes say "Here is Scott and Mike resting during one of our operations." Scott was in my fire team for a while. I don't remember if Scott was his first or last name.
I have no notes on this photo but don't need any. Another significant photo. This is SSgt John Malloy. My Platoon leader. Age 33, one of the greatest Marines to wear the uniform. He saved a lot of us. KIA. I have the details at home in Juneau. Years later I met his wife and son. Any platoon member will remember him.
Note on photo says, "Part of the ship." This is the flight deck. I took this picture because it is a group of ships officers.
Harrison and I reading, up on the flight deck. A day between operations in 1967.
Here I'm giving some South Viet children some candy mom sent me. Somewhere in country.
Somewhere in country on a combat operation. Note the two dog tags are taped together. That prevents noise at night - very important.
Photo note says, "Here we are still putting the hut up." Don't know why we called it a hut and not a shelter?
Photo note says, "This is a woman fixing her fish. I don't remember which operation it was. That's Scott in the background." Somewhere passing a small village. No males in sight.
Photo note says, "An old South Viet man." Somewhere in a sweeping operation. Note: when in the field chasing the NVA or VC we never see males over 16 or under 50. Otherwise they would be considered the enemy.
This is fascinating photo. The note on the back says, "Just after landing in the LZ, this is a picture of the CP during a squad leaders meeting. That's a dead gook in the background." Don't remember any names.
Photo note says "I don't know who this is, but I do know it's the ship he is standing on." I was making a joke, it is me. Note how close we are to the Vietnam coast line.
No note on the photo. I do remember my chopper just landed coming from an operation and this is what I saw getting off my chopper. That yellow machine is about to pick that chopper up and drop it over the side of the ship.
The marine getting patched up by our corpsman is Rangle. He took shrapnel from a enemy grenade. This wound was his ticket home; his third Purple Heart. Steiner is on the far right; you can only see half of him. William (Bill) Taylor is in the back looking on.
No photo note, but I remember it well. It was on or near the DMZ; you can tell due to the sand. My fire team member to my right. Don't remember the name. A part of this picture has a story I wouldn't put in writing.
No photo note. I thought it might be in a small village somewhere, but looking at the sand in the background, Bill Taylor said he thought it might be up at C-4. We didn't have Vietnamese in our no fire zone. Don't know why these kids are covering their faces and heads.
On my left was my fire team leader for a short while. Very capable smart guy. This looks like the rolling hills near C-4
Photo of Frank Bilbao. He is #25 in the Charlie Co. Weapons platoon photo. This was taken in country somewhere?
Battalion staging after a sweeping operation; either being lifted back to the ship or being moved to a new area.
Photo note says, "This was taken at Okinawa when I was green." Training to return to Nam as a BLT (Battalion Landing Team). Behind me is the barracks. Note the sea bags are full so we must be ready to board ship.
Photo note says, "This is at Okinawa in the barracks." Bilbao in t-shirt, Mike Witt on the rack, don't remember the middle guy. Note bunk bed at right. So, it must have been 3 to a cubby.
My rifle when it was issued to me at Okinawa (our battalion's first M-16s). Barracks in the background.
Photo note says, "Here we are out on patrol." In country; it must have been a safe area, otherwise we would not have been so close together. I don't remember names.
Photo note says, "This is myself and Whitaker standing in line to get our platoon picture. Here I have those goofy glasses on." Whitaker is to my right in the Charlie Co. Weapons platoon photo, Okinawa.
Here is Harrison and Brooks (or Blocks, sp?), my good friends in front of the bowling alley, Okinawa. Brooks/Blocks (sp?) is 28 and Harrison is 20.
"On the left, in glasses, is Harrison, one of my good friends. From looking at him you can tell he is a riot. In the middle is my good friend Witt. On the right is my squad leader. He is the one responsible for my life in V.N. He is a real good man. He is married, has one baby and is 23." You can see I failed to add his name when writing on the back of the photo. Taken in the barrack at Okinawa.
Photo note says, "Marty has two legs, he is just goofing around as usual." Sitting is Mike Witt. Don't remember the others. Staging somewhere in Nam.
Photo note says, "Here we are at the Philippines. Between Jack and Mike is Cooper. He was killed in our first operation, Beaver Cage." I'm left of Mike. We did a week of training in the Philippines after leaving Okinawa after an additional month of training. Then we shipped back to Nam to begin BLT combat operations, which turned out to be 20 combat operations for me. I'm confused by me writing Cooper was killed because Cooper returned to the states. That is what the first book, Payback, was about.
My photo note says, "Another one at the Philippines. That's Witt next to me." I speak to him about ever month to this day.
Photo note says, "On my right is my good friend Harrison, as you can tell he is a real goofy guy. On my left is my squad leader. He is married, has one baby and is 23 years old."
Photo note says, "Here we are loading on Mike boats." We were just leaving the Island of Okinawa getting on the USS Okinawa (LPH-3). What the photo doesn't show is just how tricky these transfers to and from the Mike boats were. The boats were constantly moving in different directions, putting tension and slack on the climbing net. Troops loaded down with 50 pounds of gear were on each other's heels.
This photo was dated Dec 6, 1967. The writing on the back of the photo was by the Marine in the picture. He writes. "A very good friend but wish we had known each other more. May God bless you and your wife, stay in good health years to come. Good luck best wishes Kal - Francisca (sp?)." Kal was my nick name. Not sure on his name because it is hard to read.
My photo note says, "Here I'm getting ready for the prom. HaHa" In country somewhere showing how wet we lived in the field.
My note says, "Joe and I figuring out how we want the hut." Joe Pierce was KIA.
"From left to right. Whitaker, Harrison, myself and White. Three more good friends of mine out on the beach." Probably in Okinawa.
"In this picture is Harrison laying on my rack and Witt is sitting next to Harrison. Witt is 20 years old." Taken in the barracks, Okinawa.
"The theater - Myself and my friend Boocks. He is 28 and has been in the Marines for 8 years."
My photo note says, "Notice the air strikes up on the mountain." Somewhere in Nam.
No note on the back of the photo. This was somewhere in Nam on an operation. Me in the jungle.
Photo note says, "My platoon commander and radioman." Here, we are on an operation. This photo demonstrates how spread apart we are on a sweep. Keeps one explosion from getting more Marines. Notice the bug juice container on the radioman's helmet.
This is a door gunner on the helo, an H-34. We are headed into an operation. That is an M-60 he has. Same gun I carried in my fire team.
No note on the back of the photo. My machine gun fire team on a combat sweep somewhere in country.
Photo taken by me out the open door of the helicopter as we are about to land on the deck of the ship, the USS Okinawa. Returning from an operation just off the coast.
Taken at the brig, Camp Pendleton, California - where I worked after my 13 months in Nam. Unknown coworker. He was not with 1/3.
I could not find the original photo to see what note I might've put on back; I must've left it in Juneau. I took this photo out the open door of the chopper going from point A to B, somewhere in country.
Sweeping operation somewhere in country. The smoke is from hostile action of some sort.
Okinawa, February/March 1967. This fence was around the movie theater at Camp Hansen or Camp Schwab.
Joe on the right, Walsted in the middle, and my squad leader on the left (he was shot and killed last week).
No note on the back of this photo. This was in country, 1967, on a combat mission. This old man was trimming a tree.
Set up for the night, out on patrol. I wrote on the back of the photo, "Pretty goofy looking, Huh."
H-34s training at Okinawa March 1967. A picture of some of the choppers that take us in for our operations.
Here, I'm reading one of your letters on the flight deck of the USS Okinawa, 1967. It was interesting to me how close to the coast we were.
Scott on the left Mike Witt on the right. We are beginning another operational sweep. We are waiting for the rest of the company to fly in.
This photo was taken of me at the barracks in Okinawa, March 1967. This is the first M-16s issued to our unit.
In country, settled in for the night. Prime machine gun position with the best field of fire.
Same ambush where we had 4 killed and 13 wounded. That's napalm going off in the background.
I took this photo in the middle of a firefight somewhere in Nam. The enemy is in the far tree line.
Two women guarding the children while we are going through their village. Probably grandmas. We would never see teenagers or young people or any male under 60.
In the small tree line is where the gooks ambushed my platoon. They are Marines pinned down out there and the picture is taken from my gun position where we were giving overhead fire trying to get them out of there. 4 men were killed and 13 were wounded from my platoon alone that day. I lost one of my best buddies that day. Air strikes are in the background - they are dropping napalm.
No back of photo note. This is a good photo showing the farming country side, planting sectors and dikes. Farmers with their water buffalo.
This is where the gooks first opened up on us in an ambush they had set for us. There in that vill, I snuck my camera up over the dike during the fire fight to get this picture.
Here we just got off of the choppers after an operation. That's Walsted on my left. I'm carrying 300 rounds of M-60 machine gun ammo. 200 in the can and 100 in the pouch with the box hanging around my neck. Looks like we are standing on the carrier lift elevator. I still have those fatigues.
The gooks hit us from that tree line while we were sleeping. Lower right is the end of my rifle.
Another picture where they ambushed us with 500 pound bombs going off in the background.
Company sweeping over a hill. Note the spacing kept to minimize casualties from mortars.
Settling in for the night. Me and my fire team building our shelter for the night on a combat sweep. The green box is 100 rounds of M-60 ammo.
I'm standing far left, gun in my right hand, sleeve rolled up, black wrist band (I assume is a watch). Joe Pierce is to my left and Mike Witt in the forefront.
